Verizon Media Group is the media conglomerate that encompasses digital brands like Yahoo, AOL, and several websites like HuffPost, Engadget, Tech Crunch, and more. The group currently employs over 10,500 people – but according to a report by CNN Business, this number will shrink 1.4% before the end of the year.
As stated by the source, Verizon Media is laying off 150 members of its staff, although it is unclear from which brands and/or teams.
Verizon Media continues to cut its staff
This situation mirrors the way in which the group started the year, by cutting off 800 employees from its workforce due to disappointing financial results from the media division, which is said to now be focusing on mobile and video products.
Verizon Media justified its latest decision by stating the following to CNN:
“Our goal is to create the best experiences for our consumers and the best platforms for our customers. Today we are investing in premium content, connections, and commerce experiences that connect people to their passions and continue to align our resources to opportunities where we feel we can differentiate ourselves and scale faster.”
Starting 2020 without a job won’t be easy for the staff that is about to be fired, but Verizon strongly believes that this sacrifice is a strategic step towards better execution of the growth plans of the company.
And talking about sacrifices and changes, this same year, Verizon replaced CEO Tim Armstrong with Guru Gowrappan and even sold Tumblr to Automattic Inc. for an undisclosed amount that is reportedly under the $3 million threshold.
If something is certain, is that the company is amidst a process of renewal of its media division, one that is putting its bet on content and digital advertising. This likely means that the layoffs aren’t over.
However, it’s not as if Verizon Media is having a hard time economically speaking since the company reported revenues of $1.8 billion in Q3 2019, which is only 2% lower than last year. The company will be fine for now but the individuals that got laid off just a couple of weeks before Christmas: unfortunately not so much.
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